USC Football: 3 takeaways from the Trojans’ win over Stanford

USC football took care of business in its first Pac-12 game of the season against heated rival Stanford. What did we learn?

The USC football team looked like the No. 6 team in the nation facing the 14th-ranked Stanford Cardinal. Their 42-24 victory over Stanford solidies their place as a Pac-12 contender, for now.

Sam Darnold completed his first 11 passes before throwing his first incompletion. Ironically, the incompletion was also his first interception of the game.

The Trojans scored on their first three drives behind Darnold’s arm and the legs of running back Ronald Jones II.

The Stanford Cardinal football team wasn’t to be outdone either. They put traded points with the USC Trojans, tying the game each time USC scored.

Running back Bryce Love had seven carries for 126 rushing yards and a touchdown with 11:42 left in the second quarter.

However, it was the Trojans who would pull away in the second quarter and never look back. They defeated the Stanford Cardinal 42-24 for their first Pac-12 win of the season.

Here are three things we learned in the Trojans’ victory.

3. Deontay Burnett is becoming a star before our very eyes

Quarterback Sam Darnold had a big game, but so did wide receiver Deontay Burnett. Burnett picked up where he left off last week against Western Michigan.

He led the receiving corps for the USC Trojans football team with nine receptions for 121 receiving yards and two receiving touchdowns.

Burnett made a number of spectacular catches for the Trojans offense and is slowly becoming a star before our eyes.

He has 16 receptions for 263 receiving yards so far this season. Burnett caught his first and second touchdown passes of the season against the Stanford Cardinal.

His presence on the field also opened up opportunities for Robert Mitchell to shine as well. Mitchell finished the game with four receptions for 94 receiving yards and two receiving touchdowns of his own.

They’re developing into stars for the USC Trojans football team, but it all truly starts with Burnett’s big-catch ability.

He had touchdown catches for 22 and 25 yards in the game, showing off his speed and ability to score in space.

Look for Burnett to make more noise as the season progresses and the Trojans look to win the Pac-12 title. If Mitchell can keep pace along his side, this team is going to be fun to watch on offense.

2. Ronald Jones II and Stephen Carr are a dangerous combination

The USC Trojans football team already had Ronald Jones II from 2016 but adding running back Stephen Carr has created one of the best backfields in college football.

Jones II finished the game with 23 carries for 116 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns in the games.

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Carr finished with 11 carries for 119 rushing yards in the game. He had 10.8 rushing yards per carry. Imagine the possibilities of him in the College Football Playoff.

The duo have been stellar out of the backfield for the USC Trojans football team so far through two weeks. They were unstoppable for the second-straight week as the Cardinal simply had no answer for them all game.

Jones II longest rush in the game was for 23 yards while Carr’s 52-yard rush was both spectacular and almost even more game-breaking than what quarterback Sam Darnold was doing.

The Trojans offensive line has done a good job to get each back in position to succeed on the ground and it’s showed through two games.

Both players could have 1,000 rushing yards before its all over this season, so stay tuned.

1.  Sam Darnold redeemed his Heisman value in Week 2

Quarterback Sam Darnold entered the 2017 season with a lot of expectations. In Week One, he met some of those expectations but his turnover prone habits seemed to keep his critics attention the most.

This week told a different story against the Stanford Cardinal. The USC Trojans football team came out firing on all cylinders and it was all thanks to Sam Darnold.

Darnold was 21-for-26 for 316 passing yards and four passing touchdowns. He also had two interceptions but his leadership in the win shined brighter than his turnovers.

He’s put them back in the talk for a possible berth in the College Football Playoff. It also shapes up for a perfect matchup next week with the Texas Longhorns.

It is their first meeting against Texas since there 2005 meeting in the Rose Bowl where the Longhorns won 41-38.

There’s a new head coach on both teams as well as completely different looks but the stakes remain the same. The Longhorns aren’t coming to Los Angeles to lose either.

Texas head coach Tom Herman has taken his fair share of criticism already after losing their season opener at home to the Maryland Terrapins.

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Next week’s matchup will be another interesting game in the evolution of Sam Darnold. Let’s see if he can go without throwing an interception in this one.